Legendary Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been an inspirational not only for youngsters in his country but the world over. Also benefitting from his presence is the English county team Surrey, who will play Gloucestershire in their domestic one-day tournament final at Lord's on Sunday.
Legendary Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been an inspirational not only for youngsters in his country but the world over. Also benefitting from his presence is the English county team Surrey, who will play Gloucestershire in their domestic one-day tournament final at Lord's on Sunday.
One of the upcoming England all-rounders from Surrey is Zafar Ansari. The 23-year-old Ansari was only on Tuesday selected by the England selectors for the Test series against England in the United Arab Emirates scheduled next month.
No sooner had Ansari been named in the England Test squad than he dislocated his left thumb while fielding for Surrey against Lancashire in Old Trafford in a county championship match. Ansari, who has made a lone ODI appearance for England against Ireland in Dublin in May where he did not get to bowl nor bat in the rain-abandoned match, is racing against time for his thumb to heal.
Ansari has been one of the success stories in England county season. The left-handed batsman scored 771 runs at 36.71 with one century and four fifties besides taking 44 wickets with his left-arm spin. He has also impressed in the 50-overs and T20 competitions for Surrey.
One of the highlights this season for Ansari has been sharing the dressing room with the retired Sangakkara. Answering on Lord's Podcast to a question from dna about benefitting from Sangakkara's presence, Ansari said:
“We have benefitted from him a lot in terms of the weight of runs, in terms of his presence as an experienced cricketer. He's a good character. He comes with a reputation and lives up to it.”
Personally for Ansari, the benefits have been in terms of observing the Sri Lankan great. “What I’ve picked up from him (personally)… not one batting tip or psychological tip. It is more of the every day stuff. In the field, he’s very quick to come with a suggestion. It’s about observing someone like that, seeing how relaxed they are, and how much perspective they bring to their cricket,” Ansari said.
“He has got the weight of runs behind him that allows him to have that kind of clarity and perspective. It has been the same with Hashim Amla. It has been the same with various overseas players we have had (in Surrey). It is that approach to the game, and if you get something out of that, then you are doing well,” added Ansari, whose inspirations are West Indian Gary Sobers and Pakistan's Wasim Akram.
Sangakkara will hold the key to Surrey winning on Saturday as only in the semifinal against Nottinghamshire, the Sri Lankan left-hander scored a magnificent 166. Sangakkara has had a roaring season with Surrey, scoring 760 runs in 10 first-class matches at an average of 44.70 with four centuries and one fifty. His corresponding statistics in One-day tournament for Surrey have been 429 runs in seven games at 61.28 with two hundreds and one fifty. In T20, he topped the run charts with 332 runs in nine matches at 41.50 and a strike rate of 149.54.
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